Fatum Universus
by ClockworkSky
Summary: The People once again find themselves in the need of Artemis' assistence and also must enlist the help of a mysterious new-comer, Ariana. What do Ariana and this new enemy have to do with the future? Title means: Destiny United
1. Prologue

Fatum Universus

By: Sango Ai

Disclaimer: I do not own Artemis Fowl or any of its characters. I do,  
however, own Ariana.

* * *

LEP Ops Booth

Commander Root sat down; elbows on the table as he stroked his brow,  
trying to keep his head from exploding"Explain this to me in simple  
terms Foaly, exactly what are we dealing with here"

"You remember Jon Spiro"

"Of course I remember Jon Spiro" shouted Commander Root.

Foaly ignored Julius' out-burst, he was having one more often than  
not"Yes, well, it seems that somehow a grandson of his, one  
Anthony Spiro has discovered the fairies… and in the simplest terms  
possible, is planning to raise hell. Sound a bit familiar"

Root groaned and stuck a fungus cigar in his mouth, lighting it, he  
needed to calm down and think this through"How do we know a human  
has discovered the People"

"Again…" murmured Holly, who was sitting at the other end of the  
table, listening and drumming her fingers absently, the reason she had  
been summoned becoming all too clear.

"It's simple really… my security has found a rather… provocative  
website pertaining to the People. It has all kinds of information,  
sacred information found only in the Book, just sitting there on the  
Internet for any child that knows how to use a search engine to find. It  
also contains plans… blue prints of shuttle ports, detailed reports of LEP procedures, you name it, the guy's got it."

"Anyone who would be dumb enough to put his plans up on the Internet  
doesn't seem much of a threat Foaly… the Artemis Fowl thing happened  
without up expecting it at all."

"We didn't know because Artemis didn't want us to know, if he had we  
would have known… I think this person is similar to Artemis, but for  
some reason he wants us to know, perhaps so we'll underestimate him."

Holly's ears perked up as she heard Artemis' name mentioned, her  
stomach beginning to churn as she remembered everything that had  
happened the night they met, and felt ten-fold the gnawing guilt she  
had felt ever since the mind wipe"Do you think the two are  
connected" she asked hopefully, for several reasons, the two most  
paramount being the fact that if it did involve Artemis that the LEP…  
or she at the very least would know just how to deal with the  
situation at hand, and also, for some reason, she wanted to see the  
mud boy again, even if it was on unfriendly terms.

"'Doubt it" muttered Foaly, feeling insulted that the effectiveness  
of the mind wipe he had supervised would be questioned by one of his  
closest friends.

Holly sighed but did not respond, she knew her theory was far-fetched  
to say the least. But the fact that the fairy people, with their now  
heightened security could be hood-winked again, particularly by  
someone who was descended from someone so unintelligent and arrogant  
as Jon Spiro. The something hit her"Wait… you say he's the  
grandson of Jon Spiro. He was put in prison less than four months  
ago and didn't have any children then… there's no way he could even  
have a newborn, much less a son who would be old enough to have children of his own, even by human standards."

"I was waiting to see how long it would take for one of you to catch  
that…" said Foaly smugly"It seems that whoever this person is…  
created this website about fifty years from now, but the last updated  
date says yesterday."

Root thought his head would explode"What"

Foaly laughed cockily, nearly a whinny"I knew that would boggle your mind…  
well, simply put, this guy created a domain name fifty years from now,  
found a way to transport himself and his future computer back to  
present time, and update the website yesterday so my security would  
pick it up."

"Time travel" Holly asked disbelievingly.

"Apparently so" replied Foaly, who was somewhat distracted by  
whatever it was he was doing on the computer before him.

"So what do we do about it" Root asked impatiently.

Foaly turned to face the Commander"Well, we only have a few options  
at this point. We won't know until this Anthony executes something if  
his plans that he posted online are the plans he actually has… he  
obviously wanted us to know that he was from the future and that he  
knew about us… but other than that we're sort of in the dark here."

"Few or not give us our options, Foaly" Holly prompted.

"Well, we need a psychic fairy… or perhaps, human that will be on our side for one thing…" Foaly began.

"No" exclaimed Root"No, d'arvitting no! I know what you two  
administrators of Artemis Fowl's personal fan club want to do, but I  
won't allow it."

Holly was just trying to process what was going on around her. She was  
a smart fairy, a resourceful fairy, but she had no idea how to cope  
with all that was happening, since the mind wipe she had not exactly  
been on top of her guns.

"Julius, listen" Foaly said, and despite much grumbling Root quieted  
his rant, Foaly was smarter than he was and he knew it would be the  
smart thing to do, but that did not mean he had to like it"Julius,  
it could be that in the future that since we mind wiped Fowl that he  
rediscovered us under some bad circumstances and made some kind of  
alliance with Spiro's grandson, so if we contact Artemis now it may be  
that he'll be back on our side, thus making the Artemis of the future  
be the same. Causing our new adversary to lose, likely, his most  
valuable resource."

Root sighed"Holly" he shouted.

"I'm right here Commander."

"Mud people are your department…"

"…were my department" said Holly, who was still bitter about the mind wipe.

Root decided to ignore her insolence, he understood her sentiment, she  
and the Fowl boy had become something that resembled friends and she  
had been quite fond of the Butler girl"Well… do you think you can  
handle going back… and confronting Fowl"

"You're actually considering this" she asked in disbelief, this whole  
day was unbelievable. She did not know whether to leap at the idea or  
run from it.

"What choice do I have"

Holly nearly said 'Just go ahead and deal with the situation and leave  
Fowl out of it,' but decided to go with it, this may be her only  
chance to ever see her friends again, and to make things right… after quite an inward struggle she replied,

"Yeah, I can do it."

* * *

A/n: What do you think? I am absolutely horrible at beginnings, middles are more my thing, and endings more so than beginnings even though I hate endings, especially sad ones. Review please! Be honest and if I get a positive enough response I'll continue. I actually do have a plan for this one… a firm plan. For the first time in relation to a fanfiction that's gotten off the ground that I can even remember. If you wish for me to continue you should get to meet my OC in the next chapter. 


	2. Chapter One: Ariana

**Fatum Universus  
**  
**By: Sango Ai**

**A/n: Wow, thanks for reviewing so nicely. I've never had such a fast  
response to anything. The fact that it was so fast makes me feel like  
I'm lying down on the job… even though I feel I have license to pity  
myself because I am trying to fight valiantly for a nearly year long  
writer's block. My writing style for this chapter may prove a little  
different than what I usually do because in order to not reveal things  
that would interfere with my story at this point I have to be somewhat  
vague; that however is the price you pay for meeting Ariana. Now to  
reply to my reviewers:**

AgiVega: Considering how long I have been following your Aztec  
Incident and what a great person you seem to be I feel honored that  
you'd say such things about my story. I'll try not to disappoint. ;-)

Me, (or should I say you) Obviously: I will try my best with Ariana  
and Anthony not to make them stereotypical or Mary-Sue/Gary-Stu-ish.  
Romance will hold up in my story eventually, considering I am in fact  
a hopeless romantic but its going to take some work, which as I know,  
all my writing is.

Black Aliss: There is a ship but I cannot reveal it yet. It has a  
great deal to do with my plot and thus telling anyone publicly now  
would be premature. If you really want to know you can email me.

Also thanks to: Spotzplaya888 and ArtyChick  
-

**Chapter One: Ariana**

_Sometime about fifty years in the future_

A young fairy with black hair and striking blue-green eyes secured the  
seat harness around her petite frame inside a shuttle. She looked at  
her instruments and, confirming that everything appeared to be normal  
spoke into her helmet mic"All readings stable. Requesting shuttle  
launch" she said, most professionally.  
The voice at the other end, which sounded suspiciously like Foaly  
responded"Cleared for launch. Launch in twenty seconds" the voice  
paused for a moment and continued in a far less technical tone"Are  
you sure you can do this, Ariana"

Ariana smirked for some unknown reason"Yes, Foaly yes, one would  
have thought you would have learned better than to be sexist long  
before I was born."

Foaly sighed"This has nothing to do with sexism; it has to do with  
this being dangerous and me not wanting to lose a friend, to death or  
even to kidnapping by eccentric Mud Boys. I just don't want anyone to  
get hurt…especially not you. Everyone I know would try to kill me."

Ariana chuckled"Confido mihi" she replied, almost smugly.

"I'll try" responded Foaly, if he said anything else it was lost  
because of the loud, explosion-like sound caused by this very special  
type of shuttle when it was ejected from its docking port and was sent  
hurtling into a wall of what appeared to be sparking plasma.

Ariana gripped the twin joysticks that controlled the shuttle's  
movement in an attempt to brace herself just before the impact. The  
shuttle sped through the wall of sparking gel at Mach-3 speed if not  
faster. Then everything seemed to be darkness for a moment until blue  
sparks engulfed the shuttle and blocked any view Ariana had out of it.  
When the blue sparks faded the shuttle was sitting on a docking bay at  
the E1 Shuttle Port in Tara, present day.

Two of the LEP lackeys, otherwise known as guards, stood and gawked at  
the new arrival. The shuttle was far shinier than any of the others  
that had docked there previously and looked pretty d'arvitting  
expensive and new.

"Wha" asked the one.

"How" the other managed to say.

They scampered into the inner area of the docking bay, one on either  
side of the shuttle. One stuck out his green finger and started to  
poke at the aerodynamic surface of the shuttle's exterior. His left  
wing twitched as the driver's side door hissed open automatically and  
a very pretty, relatively tall… most likely elfin girl emerged. She  
smiled an eerie, almost, foreboding smile"Can any of you tell me the  
most efficient way to get to Police Plaza"

"Listen missy, I don't know how you got here but…" one of them  
started, trying to pretend that he could not see his partner drooling  
out of the corner of his eye. His partner happened to be Chix Verbil's  
first cousin on his father's side.

"Don't call me missy" Ariana snapped"Furthermore, don't try to  
intimidate me, what are you and 'slobber-noggin' going to do, drown  
me? Besides, I'm no threat. I have legitimate, important, business  
with the LEP. It's a national security matter. Now please, try to be  
little green gentlemen and show me out of here and to Police Plaza."

The one who had formerly been drooling wiped his mouth and gave Ariana  
a reproachful glare. She was pretty, but she was mean"Fine" he  
grumbled"_Prissy_, come with us" he said as he turn on his heel and  
his partner followed behind.

Ariana fingered the trigger of her Neutrino V.4, but decided that he  
wasn't worth the time and followed the two sprites into the lobby of  
the shuttle port.

_At Police Plaza_

At the receiving desk a young officer-in-training who was working as a  
receptionist while the usual one was off on holiday in Atlantis was  
arguing nervously with a very annoyed sprite.

"Listen" said 'Slobber-Noggin'"I had to take my lunch break to  
bring her here and I can't leave her unattended, so you'd better tell  
Commander Root to quit playing Kiss-the-Tail-of-the-Centaur, or  
whatever it is he's always doing when there's something important  
going on and have him take Little Miss Star Trek here…wherever it is  
she wants to go."

Ariana would have intervened but watching the annoying green  
creature's temple pulse was entirely too much fun. It would be over  
soon enough anyway, Anthony would have to rally some forces in present  
time; that would take at least 48 hours so she wasn't in a hurry.

"What seems to be the problem here" sighed a female behind the  
frightened receptionist.

Ariana blinked, she could not believe her eyes even though logically  
she knew she should. This was the Holly of fifty years ago… her looks  
had not changed much over the years but she seemed so different.  
Ariana was not even sure how. 'Don't blow this…' she told herself  
mentally.

"Um… Hello Holly, my name is A-Ariana Fiore and I'm… well its sort of  
important that I stalk to you in private" stammered Ariana, so much  
for professional eloquence.

Holly looked at the girl who was about two inches taller than she was.  
She was pretty, very pretty, and most of her features looked elfin,  
but there was something about her that looked very different. Holly  
didn't spend much time admiring the new girl before she looked into  
her eyes; there was something about those eyes… Holly shook herself,  
unnoticeably to anyone but her"Allow me to escort you to the  
interrogation room, it's the most secure place to talk."

"Yes, ma'am" said Ariana, though it sounded a bit silly, seeing as  
Ariana was scarcely, if any younger than Holly herself.

The door of the interrogation room closed with an almost majestic  
thud. Holly went over to a panel at the opposite side of the room and pressed a button that made the room secure, "Now, what is it you need so badly? What can the LEP help you with?"

Ariana reached into an unzipped pocket and Holly reached for her Neutrino instinctively.

"It's all right," Ariana reassured, "I'm just going to show you my LEP badge."

"LEP?" Holly asked, "How's that possible, I know that Lilly Frond is the only other female LEP operative, if you'd even call her one."

Ariana pulled out a badge and a small electronic device that looked like a pager, "She is, in your time. You see, I am an LEP officer from about 54 years from now, and I'm here regarding Anthony Spiro."

Holly's jaw dropped, that was happening a bit too much lately, 'If she knows then she must be either legit or working for him…'

Holly groaned, why did things like this always happen on her watch? She pressed the intercom button that fed into the Ops Booth, "Foaly…" she groaned.

"Yes, Captain Short?" he asked.

"Come down to the first interrogation room immediately. It's important."

"Did you get Artemis?" he asked.

"No. Unfortunately, as always, I have been… diverted."

Ariana, who was sitting in one of the needlessly uncomfortable chairs in the room felt suddenly guilty. 'What if I make things worse?' she thought to herself.

"All right, Holly," said Foaly, he knew better than to ask further questions. When Holly had an urgent request it was most definitely urgent.

**A/n: Thanks for reading. Please review!**


	3. Chapter Two: Currently Untitled

**Fatum Universus**

**By: Sango Ai**

**A/N: Hey everyone, I just wanted to apologize for the fact that my  
writing has proved a little hard to read, whether the content was good  
or not. I know it appears that I am unfamiliar with the punctuating  
of the English language, which is not the case. The problem lies  
within the fact that during the uploading process FanfictionNet's  
server, or however that works, is reading my word documents wrong and  
skewing the punctuation. It doesn't seem to like punctuation within  
quotation marks… Or ellipses. I am hoping and praying that this  
corrects itself eventually and for the time being I am willing to and  
ask that you give both Fanfiction Net and myself the benefit of the  
doubt.

* * *

You/Me, Obviously: Thank you, and yes, she's a lot like Holly  
intentionally so. She and Holly will become friends, but I think that  
they're so similar (though not clones at all) that sparks may fly. By  
the way if you want Ariana's air of mystery to remain you need to stay  
away from reading the reviews. Some of my reviewers figured out her  
secret.**

AgiVega: Ah! You're giving me ideas of something I want to pursue  
even though I have no idea how. Anyway I explained it to you in an  
email Agi.

ArtyChick: You sure you really want to know? But yes, guilty as  
charged. I've got to come up with something for suspense; my AF  
reviewers are too smart for me.

Thanks all three who reviewed!

**

* * *

Chapter Two: Clearing Things Up**

Holly wiped her forehead as she emerged from the shuttle and stepped  
into the aboveground lobby. Normally she loved the chutes but now her  
mind was preoccupied. She, numb from the overload of emotions that  
threatened to ravage her, began to make the eerily familiar flight to  
Fowl Manor.

About fifteen minutes later Holly, apprehensively, alighted on the ground inside the walls of Fowl Manor, holding onto being secure in her shield as long as she could. Artemis was no longer in possession of the cannibalized LEP Retrieval helmets and not being able to be seen by him was some comfort. She knew the mind wipe had not been her decision, and that Root did it because he felt he had to, but she still did not know if she could truly face Artemis and the Butlers again. She was afraid that they would not remember her, even seeing her face to face, but another equal part of her was afraid that they would.

Artemis sat in the lotus position on his lushly carpeted floor, going through his memories systematically, searching. What he was searching for was unbeknownst, even to him. Since the appearance of the mysterious contact lenses, things at Fowl Manor had taken a turn for the peculiar. The lenses expert Butler knew had, when asked about the mirrored contacts, looked at Butler incredulously and told him that Artemis had, via Butler, ordered the contacts himself. Artemis felt that this was a great revelation for a moment, and felt as though everything that had been confusing him since the fateful moment he found the contacts might click into place. It almost did, but this was not satisfactory for Artemis.

He had been having strange dreams about the most curious things, amazing, and at this point impossible technology, and mythical creatures that anyone in their right mind would refuse to believe truly exist. Yet they would not leave his mind, specifically one, it seemed to be female, petite yet muscular, and overall very pretty, and there was something extremely familiar about her. Artemis could not get anywhere with this though, because every time in his meditations he would get a good look at her there seemed to be something blocking  
recall. She felt like a friend but he did not even know her name.

Outside, Holly flew from window to window on the second to top story of the massive house. She had been through Fowl Manor thoroughly during the siege, as well as at other times, but her mental map of the place, though nearly flawless even after four months, inside did almost nothing for her understanding of the layout outside. When she finally came to the window of Artemis' room she nearly passed it by. It was night and the room was dark, but then, in the moonlight she caught sight of a pale body, a small candle flickering next to and above it on the mahogany computer desk.

Artemis groaned uncomfortably and his forehead began to sweat. Suddenly things started to flash through his mind at entirely too rapid a rate, even for an intellect such as Artemis'. Holly landed on the window ledge and looked in with concern. Artemis' face looked like he was worried and in pain, and she, knowing Artemis as well as she did knew he was not very prone to physically showing emotion. Artemis tried to regulate his breathing, concentrating on the images flashing before his mind's eye, accompanied by words that felt arcane but almost a part of him, "…the Arctic, Artemis Senior's rescue, Koboi Laboratories, Neutrino, Foaly, the C Cube, Jon Spiro, healing, mesmer, Holly…" He called out for the last mentioned fairy as the checklist continued running until his body refused to withstand anymore and he fell from his lotus position into a crumpled heap, seemingly unconscious, and in the process of falling he hit his head on the edge of the solid wood desk.

Holly sighed and growled in annoyance and concern, "Stupid Mud Boy…" she muttered under her breath as she set her Neutrino to the fourth setting and made a small jagged circle, melting the glass and making it soft enough for her to break without setting off the security alarm. She pushed her body weight through the glass, it caused a mild crashing sound for a moment but the carpet muffled it. She hurried over to Artemis to check for any major injury despite the small lacerations in both her jump suit and skin, mud boy or not she could not just leave him there, possibly in some kind of trauma. Holly had never actually seen a total recall, and in recent memory could not name one that had occurred. So she could not take chances with her former, and she hoped current friend. She, with only a slight amount of effort, pulled Artemis out of his current position and laid him flat on his back and kneeled beside him, checking the place of impact, she pressed on it lightly to see if he would wince. He did, "Well at least he's not unconscious."

Holly sighed heavily, "Now what…?" she pondered aloud. She got to her feet and looked around Artemis' room and decided which door looked more likely to lead to the bathroom. She picked one next to the antique mahogany armoire. "Good then," she said, "I was right." She found a small towel and wet it with cold water and didn't bother to wring it. She walked back into the bedroom, quickly checking to see that the door was locked. Butler and Juliet both probably had a key, but it would at least probably hinder any nosey older Fowls, if they were home.

She resumed her crouched position next to the human and gently patted the quickly bruising area with the cool wash cloth, "Come on, wake up…" she said, less than gently. Whether she was concerned about him or not she had work to do. When he just whimpered slightly, but otherwise ignored her she began to get annoyed despite herself, Artemis had that effect on people, specifically her, "Wake up!" she growled as she proceeded to wring the ice cold, sopping cloth over Artemis' face. Stray drops seemed to work their way up his nose and he coughed for a moment and opened his eyes and blinked them.

He reached up and stroked his forehead and winced, "That hurt…" he said under his breath, then he fully recognized the somewhat concerned, somewhat morbidly satisfied face above him, "Holly?" he asked in disbelief. He wondered if perhaps her closeness had triggered the recall, from which his head was still confused and throbbing in pain. On second thought however that seemed a bit too farfetched. Pure coincidence, he decided.

Holly smiled but only briefly, "Yes, Artemis, it's Holly."

Artemis pushed himself up and leaned against the desk, a less unseemly position, "So, the fairies can't live without me for even half a year? Or is this a social visit?"

Holly rolled her eyes slightly, "We _can_ live without the help of the Great Artemis Fowl," she said sarcastically, trying to sound confident, "…but Root doesn't seem to think so…" she added, her voice trailing off.

"The Commander sent you for me?" Artemis asked, genuinely surprised but barely showing it, if at all.

"Yes, what, you think I'd come looking for you?"

Artemis stood, towering over the crouched elf and walked to the other side of the room, fiddling with something that glistened that seemed to be suspended from a dark brown or black cord on his bedpost.

"What's that?" Holly asked, though she already thought she knew what it was.

"Remember the coin you gave me… after we rescued my father and saved Haven from Opal Koboi and Briar Cudgeon?" he asked.

Holly nodded, "Yes, " she was surprised that he already seemed to have such a firm grasp on his newly regained memories, or were they all new?

"Well, the coin I gave Mulch wasn't the real thing…" he confessed, still staring at the coin, Holly couldn't tell if he was fascinated by it or if he was looking at it to avoid looking at her.

Holly felt several emotions fade into one another at a very rapid rate, first empathy, then annoyance at his dishonesty, then curiosity, "What was it then, Fowl?" she said, sounding impatient.

He smiled his vampire smile, still not looking directly at her, "It was a laser disk that had been gold leafed, containing copies of all my fairy related files… Mulch was supposed to bring it back to me in two years, when all his criminal charges were found null and void."

"Always plotting…" Holly muttered under her breath, half amused, half angered. She wondered about what he meant by Mulch's charges becoming null and void but decided she'd find that out soon enough, she would rather not be too angry with him, she still felt that she owed penance somehow. Holly then realized something and, standing, asked, "How long have you had your memories back?"

"Just now was when I got all of them in full, " Artemis explained, finally breaking his concentration upon the coin and looking at her and into her eyes, "Just as you showed up… which seems strangely suspicious."

"We didn't do anything…" Holly stated.

"Well, I'd been getting some of them back in waves for quite some time. However they would disappear no sooner than they would come. But I had the original coin in safekeeping and I happened upon in about three weeks after the mind wipe I suppose. I remembered that it had something to do with the strange dreams I kept having and the mysterious events… but I didn't know how. In a moment of superstition I thought that hanging it on my bed post might help make the dreams make more sense."

"Well that was out of character…" Holly said, "I hate to interrupt your reverie but I did have a reason for coming here."

"Yes, I apologize, go ahead, Captain," Artemis said, in a very business-like tone.

Holly explained the situation at hand and explained the reasons she thought Foaly and Commander Root seemed to think his assistance was needed.

Artemis nodded thoughtfully, off into nothing, then glared at the air seemingly, "Spiro… I hate to judge by lineage but if he's anything like the relative of his I know, you have no need to question whether or not I'll help the People."

"Still lookin' to give that family their comuppin's?" Holly asked, smirking.

Artemis shook his head, "No, I had my revenge. But obviously it taught him, and thus his future family nothing," Artemis looked at Holly for a moment, "And after all, we're still friends aren't we…?"

When he finished this statement he looked at the floor for a moment, feeling very slightly embarrassed that he, Artemis Fowl, had asked such a sappy sounding question.

'So we were…' Holly thought but shook herself, "Yes, I suppose. Despite your trickery."

"If I hadn't left myself some clues I would've turned back into a monster, Holly," he stated matter-of-factly, "Even with the few memories I began to reclaim, I am still a criminal without the influence of the People…"

Holly sighed, she really did feel sorry for him, but this was no time for sentiment, "Well, maybe, if this goes without friction the Council…will… let you keep your memories this time. We can hope for the world's sake," Holly said, adding a bit of sarcasm to her last sentence.

"We can hope," Artemis agreed.

"Well, are Juliet and Butler here, they'd probably prove useful, not to mention it wouldn't be smart for you to just up and disappear would it?"

"I should think not," replied Artemis as he paged the Butler siblings from their respective rooms.

* * *

**A/N: I really had to grabble with myself as to whether or not to post this chapter, I wasn't really comfortable with it, but I guess its the best I can do... Please review. Thank you for reading. **


	4. Chapter Three: Apology

**Fatum Universus**

By: Sango Ai

**A/N: I apologize sincerely for the mistakes I made in the last chapter. I realize the title made little if any sense. My explanation for it was that it was supposed to begin the process of "clearing things up" between Holly, her human friends, and the other fairies. As soon as I come up with a better title and have the time I will go back and fix the punctuation problems in the first two chapters and the generally stupid things I have mistakenly done. There seem to be some things that are unclear that are important to my story that tend to confuse people so here are some notes on that issue:**

Ariana and Anthony are both from fifty-four years in the future.

Artemis is still 13/14 in this fic… I cannot remember when Jon Spiro said he was going to turn fourteen in the EC. This story takes place only four months after the conclusion of the EC, hence Artemis' comment about the fairies not being able to live without him for a half year.

Ariana is about 14 (at youngest… make her a little older if you wish) in human years and fairy, which will be explained later.

It doesn't really matter how old Anthony is, this is left up to your judgment but he is still rather young and is a full human.

Now to reply to those of you who are kind enough to review:

BluAyu: You're going by just Blu now? Anyway, thanks so much for the compliments and my improvement is much due to friendly competition with you ;-). Thank you so much for what you've done for me since I started this fic. I really do think I'd feel entirely lost without you.

AgiVega: Thanks for reviewing and being honest with me. I explained the reason for the lack of good chapter title… I am really trying to work out how and when to go about explaining how Ariana was created… I already know but it's a difficult subject to address without the rest of my story…

Me You, obviously: Thank you for being loyal, I appreciate it. You think Artemis is hard to keep in character? I always found Holly more difficult… simply because it's difficult to balance her emotional/caring side and her tough tomboy side. (I can do this for myself but other people it's an entirely different story.) I am not looking at the reviews right now but I think it was you that mentioned thinking that Artemis would be unlikely to reveal any of the details about his mind wipe evasion plan but what I was trying to do was portray a moment of weakness and, despite everything that had happened, his extreme confidence in Holly. She has saved his arse on more than one occasion now.

Sqarecool321: All right, I'll try.

**Chapter Three: Apology**

Foaly trotted over to the radar screen once more. Holly had been gone for almost eight hours, and there had been no correspondence from her, verbal or otherwise, in at least seven and a half and considering this was a touchy situation, the centaur, as well as anyone else that did not despise Holly or was concerned with the longevity of the fairy people, had cause for concern. He decided it was not a good idea to mention any of these happenings to Commander Root at this time, though; it would not be a good idea to bother him at this point. Holly often did do stupid things intentionally and his superior was busy at that moment interrogating the newcomer.

Ariana shifted uncomfortably in her seat, trying to politely continue to listen to and answer Commander Root's, now seemingly pointless, questions.

He had asked her about everything; how long she had been a part of the LEP; where she was from; what she knew about the Spiro family past, present, and future; even if she had any pets. Ariana, try as she might, could not figure out what the last inquiry had to do with national security. Despite all of these queries there was only one she could not answer:

"All right, Miss Fiore, who are your parents?"

"I," she began, she took a deep breath, "I really can't talk about them, and it would endanger everything I've worked for. Surely you can understand?"

Commander Root looked at her suspiciously despite the fact that she had answered every other question to his satisfaction. The more he studied her the more she looked like Holly to him, though; he still seemed to ignore the obvious.

Her resemblance to the fairy who had become so much like a part of his family caused him to soften towards her, but only slightly, "Embarrassing folks, huh?" he asked, "Well, everything else you have been forth-coming about, so I suppose I can let that one thing slide. But let me make it very clear that if you make one mistake that puts the fairy people of my time in jeopardy you'll find yourself back on your shuttle, if you're lucky, faster than you can blink."

Ariana nodded, smiling appreciatively, "Yes, sir." She had not entirely ruined this after all, and it also seemed that she might be able to stand soon.

**Shuttle-port E1 Tara**

After the Butler siblings had had adequate time to adjust to their newly returned memories and had been informed of the situation at hand it had been decided that Artemis and Juliet would accompany Holly back to the Lower Elements and Butler would stay behind. He had regained some strength, much more than had ever been expected by the fairies, but he was still not back to his old… or rather young self. This had been decided not only for the sake of Butler's safety but also for the sake of having an ally above ground.

When they reached the shuttle-port there was a bit of a commotion, humans being seen there was a most unusual occurrence. After Holly had threatened anyone who had tried to intervene with her buzz baton and had shown her LEP badge to the more timid that were threatening to do something but just continued standing there, things went rather smoothly.

In the shuttle things were quiet. It was small and cramped for three persons, human or fairy to ride in. This only proved to make silence more awkward yet no one, not even Artemis, could come up with an appropriate or even inappropriate remark.

Nothing was heard except the almost inaudible hum of the regulatory instruments that kept the small egg-like pod from plummeting into the bowels of the Earth unchecked and the breathing of its occupants.

After what seemed like several eternities Holly finally spoke into her microphone again, confirming her clearance to land in the docking bay below. After the pandemonium that had occurred aboveground the crew at Tara's shuttle port had been promptly informed of the humans near arrival and the area had been, with quite some effort, been cleared.

Holly, with a more languid than usual, but certainly not slow slap to her chest released herself from the seat harness and placed her finger just barely a centimeter away from the button that allowed the doors to open and then, she stopped.

"Artemis? Juliet?" she said softly as she turned back from the single driver's seat to the passenger area and looked from one human's eyes to the other then quickly averted them.

"Yes?" Artemis asked.

Juliet responded almost simultaneously, "What, Holly?"

Holly took a deep breath, this moment was entirely too awkward, she swallowed and said quickly, before she lost the words, "I'm sorry… I really don't know what's going to happen after we leave this shuttle but, I just… wanted to tell you that I am sorry. I know this is hardly the time but, knowing these types of situations I might not get the chance otherwise."

The fairy needed to elaborate no further and embarrass herself with fumbling words no more. The humans understood her perfectly and there was still silence, but it was a calm silence.

**A/n: Can anyone say awkward ending and entirely too long beginning sentence. Please be merciful though, a lot of this was written and the rest proofread now which is 3 in the morning and I haven't slept in 19 hours. Please review… I promise to you this mindless tedium will become remotely interesting soon. **


	5. Chapter Four: Anthony

**Fatum Universus  
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**By: Sango Ai  
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**A/N: I don't have much to say other than to apologize in advance for any stupid mistakes I make in the future. I need to finish my story completely though before I go back and fix the mistakes I've made previously or this story will never get completed. It's unfortunate but that's the way I have to work. Now to my review-replies:**

AgiVega: The land of Limbo (the in-between stuff that has to be there) is horrible! Thanks for bearing with me.

ArtyChick: Thanks for the "random trivia thing." It's not that big an issue in this story but it's good to know. I don't actually have my own copy of the EC unfortunately. Thanks for reviewing.

Me You, obviously: Holly is worried about the general danger of all that they're about to go through… And on the subject of Ariana: My theory on fairy aging is that for the first five or so years of their life that they age much the same as humans. (Seeing as Opal Koboi not only had the mental but the physical capacity to dismantle a hard drive at the age of two.) Ariana is different from the rest of the fairies though and is still both physically and literally fourteen (ish). This, again, is something else that'll be hard to explain. And normally she wouldn't be allowed to work for the LEP at such a young age but that too will be explained later. I'm sorry for being so arcane. Thanks for reviewing.

Chapter Four: Anthony

Anthony Spiro descended the stairs in the rented corporate building to the basement that had been converted into a laboratory, damp, dark, and cold as it was. Anthony liked it that way; but then it was not as though Anthony actually did any work in the laboratory. He understood most of what went on there but was too proud to do any of the work. Besides, he wanted nothing to be directly connected to him on the outside chance that their operation be discovered. Other people did his dirty work for him, one in particular.

"Daegana!" he called, maliciousness less than veiled in his voice.

He smiled to himself as he heard a glass vial hit the floor and shatter as he came to the stairs' landing.

"Yes, Anthony?" said the meek voice of a pale, small framed human girl that had wavy dark drown hair and large, expressive, gray eyes.

"Don't presume you have the right to call me by my first name," he said coldly, "Now clean that up."

Daegana kneeled without question and began picking up the glass with her gloved hands.

"I've come to check on your progress," Anthony continued, "Is your project complete?"

Keeping her head bowed and her eyes fixed to the floor, "No, An-Sir, I have only just been able to complete compiling the database that will enable the DNA recoding."

"And what's your excuse for that one, Daegana?" Anthony asked testily, "I gave you DNA samples for all of them… there are only six."

Daegana risked looking up, but not into Anthony's eyes, "Yes, sir. But seeing as they are different species I had to make their DNA compatible without killing the humans as well as the fairies. If I hadn't performed some alterations on the program rejection alone would have killed all of them, then you'd be left with nothing."

A vein pulsed in Anthony's temple, "Smart puppy, aren't you? See that you complete not only the blueprints but also the machine itself within forty-eight hours. I don't have time for this. Undoubtedly the LEP will send one of their beloved officers to catch up with us; I need you to see that this is completed before that happens; I'd hate for you to have to take the fall for me," he said, his voice bone chilling.

"But…" Daegana began, but swallowed her protest. She knew what would happen if she questioned Anthony too much.

"Yes, Daegana?" he asked, looking into her eyes dauntingly.

She again looked at the concrete floor, "Nothing, sir."

"That's what I thought you'd say."

Anthony turned around and began ascending the stairs again, "Someone will bring you some food later," he said evenly. He did not hate Daegana, truthfully he didn't even dislike her, but someone in a position such as Daegana's had to be kept humble.

When Anthony left the basement he went, wordlessly, to his living quarters. They were also in the corporate building, in an old wing that had been converted into a bedroom, an elaborate bathroom, and a kitchen. Anthony could have financially afforded his own apartment but he was too eager for his plan to be completed to leave the building. Besides, he did not want Daegana getting out of hand in his absence. He did not like the fact that he had a subordinate that was smarter than he was, but he had a knack for intimidating her into thinking she was not, a useful thing to have as it turned out.

Though it was still early Anthony flopped down on his bed and turned on the television. He did not see any point in doing anything else. Until Daegana completed her task his plans of world domination would have to wait.

**A/N: Thanks for reading. Sorry it took so long. Please review. Anthony is a bit… contradictory I grant you. But it's really just pretentiousness. **


	6. Chapter Five: Present Tense

Fatum Universus By: Sango Ai 

A/N: Thanks for reviewing to those of you who did. My morale is a bit bolstered now so I think I can do this more efficiently now. I don't require reviews to write… I just write because I like it, but having nice reviews doesn't hurt a thing in the least. Now to reply to my reviewers:

**ArtyChick: Thanks… feeling like my story actually interested _someone_ helps me a lot. Daegana will eventually question Anthony too much but it will take a while. She's immensely loyal and, frankly, afraid. **

**Me You, obviously: I have meddled with fairy aging unduly in my time as an Artemis Fowl fan and it sort of varies but I think I figured out a way to do it that will make everyone happy. And of course Anthony's a jerk, he's had two generations of Spiro's teaching him…what could anyone expect? I don't know if he has any really redeemable qualities yet or not… I'm just kind of feeling my way through with him. Age wise, he's probably just a bit older than Ariana, although for some reason my best friend decided that he was thirteen. This is up to your imagination, as is his appearance, but in my mind his appearance was based on my old boyfriend. (Not because my old boyfriend was villainous, but just because it seems to fit.) My old boyfriend had green eyes, he was Caucasian but tanned very easily, was moderately tall, was thin, and had medium to dark brown hair. Lol, why is it that my replies to reviews are longer than the reviews themselves?**

**BluAyu: Dorothy? O.o Why? Dorothy's hair was red… and she was an android. (Why is it that all anime involving androids have heavy innuendo in the title or incorporated into the show itself?) Anyway, Anthony is not- in my mind- all that big and bad. He's just "heading up the road to perdition- just another boy with blind ambition." (Corny lyrics from YuGiOh Movie Soundtrack thing.) And you think Anthony should be thirteen? Hmm, I thought of him as older. But I'm not dictating anything to anybody. **

**AgiVega: I can email you the answer to your question or you can wait until everyone else finds out. ;-) **

Chapter Five: Present Tense LEP Ops Booth 

Ariana looked down at herself and at the dull green jumpsuit she had been given to wear while working for the LEP. She then glanced wistfully at her uniform; it was a dark blue jumpsuit with silver zippers and dark green stitching.

The clip-clop of Foaly's hooves could her heard behind her, "Problems Miss Fiore?" he asked.

She turned to him and smiled coyly, "No, not at all. I just… well it's a bit of immaturity but I like my uniform better."

He glanced at it, "It doesn't look like an LEP uniform at all though."

"Well…" Ariana looked off into nothing, "The LEP is very… different where I come from."

Foaly enjoyed listening to Ariana's vague mentioning of her life in the future. It made him feel like he was a part of some really astounding science-fiction series.

Before he could ask her anything specific about the futuristic LEP, or do anything else for that matter, the pneumatic hiss of the booth's doors was heard.

Both occupants of the room turned their head's toward the doors.

Commander Root, Holly, Artemis and Juliet entered.

"I see that you've both made _so much progress_," said Commander Root with his characteristic sarcasm.

Juliet looked at Ariana and spoke pointedly, "You look familiar… but I don't believe Artemis or me have ever met you."

Ariana smiled slightly and outstretched her hand, "I'm Ariana Fiore, I'm a-," she paused for a second, swallowing any self doubt, "-an agent for the LEP's Retrieval Squad and I'm trained in the operation of time travel equipment, so I've been sent here by the LEP of my time to retrieve Anthony Spiro and bring him into custody."

"I see," said Artemis. For once someone who said this was not lying.

Once again an eerie silence fell over everyone in the room. These were happening a lot but rifts in time are often awkward.

Commander Root decided to break the silence and said in his usual at least half-way-to-a-coronary tone, "Well are we all just going to stand here and gawk. This isn't a social visit. Someone, all of you, get to work."

Holly responded immediately, "Yes, sir."

"What's our first objective, Commander?" Artemis asked, following in suit.

"To find out where in the hell this _new_ demented Mud Boy's base of operations is… then we figure out what he's up to."

Artemis mentally winced but outwardly nodded evenly.

Juliet laughed quietly.

Foaly took the initiative to actually give instructions, seeing as the Commander probably didn't even know where to start, "I can run an internet search on Jon Spiro… find out whatever became of the Spiro Needle."

Commander looked to Ariana, "You _are_ a trained field agent, aren't you?"

"Of course. Generally corporate officials aren't sent on life-endangering ventures."

"So you say," Artemis said under his breath.

Foaly ignored Artemis and responded to Ariana, "Yes, of course. That's why I am rarely ever in the field. Corporate workers are more indispensable."

Holly scoffed, "Don't kid yourself, Foaly. You're just a computer geek that's good at finding back doors and staying one step ahead of **Mud Man** technology."

Foaly slumped a little, "Oh, shut up, Holly."

Root's expression went from contemplative to determined, "Captain Short?"

"Yes?" Holly asked, standing up straight.

"You take Fiore to the artillery and make sure she knows how to use our weaponry."

"Mud Boy?"

"Yes?" Artemis sighed.

"You stay here with Donkey Boy and try to make yourself useful. Don't break or steal anything."

"Sir, yes, sir." Artemis replied snidely.

Juliet shifted on her feet restlessly, "What am I supposed to do, stand here and produce carbon monoxide?"

"It's _carbon dioxide_, Juliet," said her current unofficial principle.

"Whatever."

Ariana pursed her lips to hold back laughter. They're all the same, she thought. Maybe relating to them wouldn't be so hard after all.

"What exactly can you do, Juliet? Other than incapacitate imbecile mafia henchmen?" asked the Commander.

Juliet glared slightly, "I am a black belt in _seven_ martial arts disciplines. I can wrestle anything you care to send at me. I am fluent in Japanese. And, um… I can cook."

"Well, if we need someone to make dinner later we'll call you, but just, for now…" Root paused to think. "You're a fighter… hmm… go with Holly and Miss Fiore. See if you can make yourself useful."

"'Kay," Juliet responded perkily.

Excerpt from Ariana's Journal Year: 2059 

_That day was the beginning of a venture that would change my life forever, by nearly ending it. It was under extraordinary circumstances but it was supposed to be a routine mission: go there, contain the problem, fix the damage, and come home. But it turned out to be so much more than that. The first lesson I learned in the days that were to follow was that time doesn't change people; only love, compassion, hatred, and pain do. People may change on the outside but the core always stays the same. In many cases this is comforting, but in others it is very devastating…_

**A/n: Please review. Thank you for reading!**


	7. Chapter Six: Daegana

**Fatum Universus**

**By: Sango Ai**

**A/n: Thanks for reviewing!**

**Jules866: Thanks.**

**AgiVega: Again, thank you. I thought it was a bit cheesy… but yeah, the monoxide/dioxide thing came from an actual experience.**

**ArtyChick: Thanks. I actually have difficulty keeping them in character… I have to work at it… hard.**

**Me You, obviously: I try to be, but I feel out of place because I don't have any questions to thoroughly answer! gets nervous**

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**Chapter Six: Daegana**

Daegana blinked her tired, bloodshot eyes as she saved her work on the main computer in the lab. Finally she could sleep; she was finished with the blue prints. Tomorrow she would have to begin the building process, but that would require help. She also had the sneaking suspicion that her work would be better done when she was not suffering from severe, self-imposed sleep deprivation. Well, somewhat self-imposed. Anthony's expectations were something of an obsession.

After she took off her lab coat and washed up a bit she crawled into her small, marginally comfortable bed. She gazed up into the newly present darkness that filled the little room that she called her own. Eventually she closed her eyes, fully loosing herself in her thoughts, finding that tears still brimmed over.

She owed her life and her freedom to Anthony Spiro. She was thankful for both, but many times it seemed that she had only traded one set of shackles for another and she often wondered if she would not rather at least be back in a time and place she was familiar with. She quickly shook the thoughts from her head though and turned onto her stomach. Wherever Anthony was, that was where she wanted to be.

She sighed heavily, _I don't know what else to give him,_ she thought. _I try so hard to do what he asks, but will it ever be enough? I shouldn't even be doing this. It's going to hurt people…I don't want to hurt anyone. I've spent my whole life running from people that have hurt me. _

_Anthony isn't like who he used to be. He used to care about me… I used to think that maybe he might eventually love me… But now all of that's gone. All he has left is power lust and a thirst for vengeance. Maybe if I help him without protesting anymore he'll change. Maybe I can change him in silence, _Daegana let out a rebellious sob through her softly falling tears.

A fantasy ran through her mind; she wanted so much to tear those blueprints to shreds. She wanted her life back. She wanted Anthony back. _All my dreams are as dust, _continued her thoughts,_ but I love him, I'll always love him. And that's all that matters to me now. That's all, from the moment he saved me, that's ever mattered._

Gripping her sheets and crying quietly she fell asleep, one word escaping her lips, and that word was, "Anthony."

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**It's short and a bit pathetic I thought, but it's necessary for you to understand Daegana's role later in the story. I've finally worked out some of the trickier details, but it's going to take a while for pieces to start obviously fitting together. Please bear with me. Thanks for reading! –The Deranged Mind of Me at 3 AM.**


	8. Chapter Seven: La Vida Loca

**Fatum Universus**

**By: Sango Ai**

**A/N: Hi everyone! I know I have way too much in-between stuff. I was talking to my mom about this the other day. I told her that I loved to write but the one part of my own writing that I think I'll always _hate_ is the beginning stuff that has to be laid as groundwork before anything else can be accomplished or built upon. Anyway, if I make any more stupid mistakes I apologize. I'm beginning to hate my own writing in general anyway. Not to mention I'm getting sick of my own story… which is never a good thing. The concept was interesting enough to me but the application of it seems far to contorted now, but I'd like to actually finish something for once in my life.**

**One more note: I am also thinking of changing my pen name one last time to something I can stick with that was original to me: Amaya Night Reign. So if you use pen name search I'll probably be under that soon. **

**ArtyChick: Thanks for pointing that out to me. When I was writing random thoughts down to prepare for writing this story down on notebook paper Daegana was a bit of an afterthought that didn't get put in until the day before I started writing… I've made that same mistake several times before but caught myself before I saved the document. I did fix it though. It's true I am a bit of a night owl… or a night and day owl. I just don't like to sleep when it isn't necessary. Thanks again!**

**Me You, obviously: The main reason I like you as a reviewer is that you're honest. I tend to take that stance against OCs at first, except Darla and Agi have a way of winning me with theirs. **

**Chapter Seven: La Vida Loca**

_**Fowl Manor, Seven Hours Later**_

Ariana sighed and laid the contents of her bag out on the table in front of her in perfect symmetry; each of the items had a label on it and was placed in alphabetical order. When she was finished she stood up over it and looked at it, confirming in her mind that each of the items was at as close to perfectly even as was possible. She frowned at a tube of toothpaste and picked it up, squeezing the bottom of it carefully with nimble fingers in an attempt to get its contents even within it, and set it back down on the table evenly.

At that point she noticed that Artemis was watching her hands intently and looking at her collection of toiletries, chemicals, and tools.

"Can I help you?" she asked, cocking one eyebrow slightly.

"Very organized," he commented, nodding toward the table.

Ariana's finger went up to her mouth reflexively. "It helps me keep track of things," she said quickly.

Artemis looked from her to the table and nodded quietly.

Ariana got up and started to walk away from the table with the first four items, all of which were medical astringents, to take them to the guest room that Artemis had told her to keep her things in.

"Miss Fioré?" Artemis asked, realizing something.

Ariana turned back around on the balls of her feet, "Yes?"

"The labels…"

"What about them?"

"They're written in English but you're a fairy... aren't you?"

Ariana rolled her eyes, "Of course I am."

"Doesn't that mean that your first language should be Gnommish?"

Ariana's eyes shifted once as she had to think quickly, "Well I labeled them before I left. I didn't think that it made any sense to label them in Gnommish since some of the people who would need to read them probably don't know Gnommish."

Artemis decided at that point that there was no point in prying so he abandoned the subject. "No, of course, you're right. Do you need help carrying your things?" he asked, preparing to pick up the next of the various bottles and tubes that were laid on the table.

"No!" Ariana exclaimed, moving herself quickly between. She cleared her throat, composing herself, "Sorry… it's just… I mean, it's all right, I don't need help."

Artemis raised his eyebrow at her slightly taking down another mental note, "All right."

Ariana let out a deep sigh, closing her eyes, steadying herself by holding onto the back of the chair. "What is the matter with me?" she asked herself quietly.

She shook her head, forcing steel to override her emotions, not entirely unlike another female LEP officer, and went back to her work.

When she reached the guest room she walked into the adjoining bathroom and again began to lay out the bottles in alphabetical order in even rows. After about ten trips the entirety of her room was dotted with neat rows of bottles, tubes, and bandages. Lastly she placed a small cloth bag on the table next to the bed. She sighed and sat down on the bed, folding her legs up into a lotus position, but instead of actually meditating she just stared off into space, not even bothering to close the door of her room first.

After what seemed like an eternity Ariana was startled by the sound of a light pecking on the door facing. When she looked up at the door she saw Juliet, peaking around the door.

"Hey, you all right?"

Ariana smiled weakly, "Yeah, fine."

Juliet laughed, "You're about as good at being fake-happy as Artemis. Anyway, we were gonna eat and Foaly and Root are supposed to call, don't ask me how… You coming?"

Ariana looked back around the room quickly, eyes landing on the cloth bag, she then looked back at Juliet, "Yeah, I'll be right there."

Juliet nodded and turned back around.

Ariana heard the clicking of Juliet's feet running down the stairs and sighed, tapping her finger against her knee a few times. "All right, buck up Ariana. There's nothing wrong other than your nerves… which are just being ridiculous anyway. This is your job, stop acting like a little girl," she told herself and got up and walked down the stairs without any further second thoughts.

When she walked into the conference room where the motley crew were eating and watching a satellite television screen she heard Foaly's voice coming from the speakers, "…traced a credit card in the name of Jon Spiro to Las Vegas, Nevada. Jon Spiro is still in prison so that's where our Anthony Spiro is, so that's where you're headed."

Juliet suddenly looked more interested, though her older brother looked nothing but pleased.

"A bodyguard's worst nightmare…" he said under his breath.

"Why?" Holly asked. "What's in Las Vegas?"

Artemis looked at her, surprised, "You haven't heard of Las Vegas?"

"No, I know Nevada's in America but I've never been there…"

Ariana spoke up, "It's commonly referred to as Sin City in human culture. Basically, it's a hub of money, greed, lust, and glamour."

Holly shrugged. "Sounds fun to me," she said sarcastically.

"It does have some good things in it…" Juliet said, trying her best to quell the excitement in her voice.

"Murder, larceny, obstruction of justice, prostitution, the American Mafia, gangs, take your pick," Artemis replied to Juliet's remark.

"Well in any case," Ariana began, "It looks like we're about to go live _la vida loca_."

Juliet started to hum the Ricky Martin song by the same title.

An extremely gentle elbow from her older brother followed. Any more and it might've broken or bruised something but it served its purpose, to shut her up. For all her skill in some areas Juliet still hadn't learned fully when the appropriate time to be serious was.

Ariana smiled a little, and then cast her gaze to Artemis. "Is the Lear jet on standby?" she asked.

Artemis shook his head. "It isn't, but it can be," he said, reaching for his cell phone.

"Why not use the shuttles underground?" Holly asked.

"Because it'd take forever to get clearance to even get to North America, much less the western side of it. And no offense to any of you but I'd like to get home," Ariana replied, looking briefly at each person in the room.

Artemis nodded and stepped briefly out of the room to call Dublin Airport. When he returned Ariana had taken some water from a hot kettle that was on a serving tray in the center of the table and poured it over a small bag of Earl Grey tea. She fiddled with the string, stirring the bag around evenly.

"Can we be ready to leave the manor in a half an hour?" Artemis asked.

Ariana nodded, not looking up from the cup.

The rest of the group agreed and within a few minutes the only occupants of the room were Artemis and Ariana.

Artemis smiled a little, "A fairy that likes tea…"

"I learned it from my father," Ariana said absently as she threw the tea bag away. Ariana blinked as she realized what she had said, she didn't want to reveal her history to anyone in this era, and it could ricochet into the future and have serious repercussions. "He spent a substantial amount of time around humans," she explained as she turned up the sup of tea and drank it in one gulp to avoid saying anything further.

Artemis blinked and looked at her in slight awe, "Would that not burn your esophagus?"

Ariana winked and smiled, "Fairies are made out of stronger stuff."

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Within an hour the group had boarded a plane and well on their way to Las Vegas, Nevada where Anthony Spiro was patiently waiting for the group to play into his hands.**

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Review please. I really hate this chapter myself so it's understandable if you do too. I'm quite tempted to give up on this story and start another one since I've read the Opal Deception but I really would like to finish something for once. What do you think?**


	9. Chapter Eight: Tying Knots, Sort Of

**Fatum Universus**

**A/n: Thank you so much for reviewing to those of you that did. It makes me feel a lot better about writing now. It's funny though that the chapters that I like the least seem to be the ones that get the most positive responses. I think it may be that it's because those are the ones that I wait the longest to post because I'm self conscious and everyone is so happy that I actually updated that they don't care how bad the chapter is, lol. Now to reply to all my wonderful, marvelous reviews (in alphabetical order):**

**AgiVega: I actually have developed a taste for Earl Grey tea myself (with sugar!) because, being such an AF fan girl I bought some that I found at an overstock store place, determined that I would make myself like it. Without sugar it is quite terrible though… it smells nice though. Anyway, _la vida loca_ is Spanish (or at least American Spanish) for "the crazy life". Nevada is in an area that is mostly desert and is very close to the Mexican border so the phrase is associated with it, seeing as they speak Spanish in Mexico. La Vida Loca is also the title of a song.**

**Aperfectattitude: I feel like I'm being a bit melodramatic with Anthony. I need to make him seem more realistic. And I think everyone has figured out who Ariana's secret. I made it a tiny bit too obvious but so long as the characters seem to be still in the dark, considering they aren't omniscient like we are, it still works. **

**ArtyChick: It may be moving but it's moving entirely too slowly for my liking. But a good friend of mine has made me have a bit more hope for it and getting such a good response for this chapter also helps.**

**gavrilnagarian: Okay, glad to see interest.**

**Lindsay: Thank you and sorry I take so long to update. I've been scurrying to get through school. I am home schooled and was behind really badly. **

**(You) me, obviously: I think I've decided to at least try to finish it. It just may turn out to be a little bit shorter than I had originally planned. And I think that'd be weird for almost anyone. Thanks for encouraging me.**

**Paige-rossi-black: Thank you very much for the compliment but AgiVega's Artemis Fowl: The Aztec Incident is far, far, better than my story! And about Ariana, yes that's what I was trying to imply, it may or may not be an important plot point later. If not it just makes Ariana have more depth.**

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**Chapter Eight: Tying Knots… Sort Of**

Anthony may have been setting a trap for his enemies, but he had no inkling the trap that he had unintentionally set for himself. Anthony had at one time been a very different person than he was now in spite of his family. He had been compassionate and fought for things… at least the one thing, he came to believe in. Now, however, all that was gone, except the shadow of his former self that he still saw when he looked in the mirror, and the vivid image of that person Daegana saw when she looked at him.

Anthony was, in fact, at the moment looking into a mirror. His hair was messy and there were dark circles under his eyes. He was clean but his clothing was ragged, he was the very image of someone who lived in apathy. There was, however, one thing he did care about. That was vengeance. He wanted vengeance for his father and grandfather, so he had convinced himself. But in truth, more so than that, he wanted revenge for the loss of who he was. Before his father's death he had tried to steer clear of the deception, the pain, and the greed. Now his life consisted of these three things. Maybe that was the reason he held onto Daegana. He didn't treat her properly, he knew he didn't, but she was his last window to who he used to be. In truth he hoped that once this was all over that they could forget all about this, leave and start a new life in a new world, a world that he could control.

He lazily ran a brush through his hair and pulled a black concert t-shirt over his head. He brushed his teeth and walked out of the bathroom again, something wasn't right and he could feel it. He picked up the phone to call and ask if things were going according to plan but just as he pressed the first number key he heard his door sling open and bang against the wall with a thud.

He sighed exasperatedly without looking up but placing the phone back on its cradle, "Please, Claudia, I've told you over and over that the paint on that wall is worth more than your medical insurance… very good medical insurance."

"Oh, they give medical insurance to call girls in this era do they?" said a familiar, but usually meeker voice.

"Daegana?" he asked, surprised as he turned to look at her.

"Yes, that is what you call me," she replied.

"What're you doing up here?"

"You didn't expect me to stay down in that dungeon forever did you? I'm sick of this. I have cried myself to sleep for months for you and I'm fed up with it. I don't care what you do to me. I cannot take believing in the memory of something that's obviously become a monster!" she cried with uncharacteristic anger and frustration, advancing toward Anthony.

"Don't speak to me like that!" Anthony said and without any thought in his head he did something that he never imagined he'd do.

He slapped her. He slapped her so hard that she had to grab the edge of a table awkwardly to keep from falling to her knees. But she refused to fall to her knees for him, not again.

She looked at him with anger and hurt, but also searchingly. She was mentally pleading though on the outside she was the epitome of defiance, _Please, come back to me Anthony…_

Seeing her eyes, so convicting but so lost made something snap momentarily in Anthony. His concrete blockade apparently wasn't working as well as it had in the past. He'd become just what he knew his grandfather had… The very thing he despised because of the pain it'd caused his family, his father.

"Daegana… I… am so sorry," he said, slowly, knowing that words were at this point all but completely meaningless.

Daegana opened her mouth to say the most hurtful thing she could possibly think of with her meek and tender spirit but then, looking into his eyes, she saw the person she'd been looking for break free. She didn't know how long it would last, but that person was there. She felt the tears well up in her eyes, and instead of wanting her hurt him she suddenly felt nothing but a desire to hold onto the person as tightly as she could. After only one more second's hesitation, and only then to make sure she wasn't dreaming, she leaned in and kissed him.

Anthony was very surprised at this. He was disgusted with himself, he felt so terribly filthy for what he had just done. Yet she still seemed to love him. After all he had put her through she still loved him. Finally accepting this, though he didn't understand it, he kissed her back.

When she pulled back, seemingly satisfied with being merely acknowledged she said quietly, "I love you, Anthony." Then she turned to walk away, content to do what he wanted. Once again, whatever she could give to him to make him accept her was what she was willing to do. Even more bound and broken, but momentarily happier she sighed heavily.

"Daegana, wait…" Anthony said, firmly but softly.

"Yes?" she asked, looking into his eyes, her grey ones flashing in the light slightly.

"I," he paused for a moment, trying to determine if what he was about to say was true, "love you."

Her eyes widened a little, but she heard the truth in his voice.

He fought desperately in his mind for a way to prove his words to her and finally said the only thing he knew to say, "Please, stay with me?"

Daegana hesitated, but finally made the decision that she was willing, whatever it took, to get the person she loved back for good. Maybe this was her last chance.

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**A/n: This chapter was shorter than I wanted it for me but implicate things are hard for me to do. Also, again, it's very late. This chapter seems like a place holder again. It may be short but that's not why it's here. There is a major reason for it later, trust me. It seems like in-between material but isn't. Thanks for reading! Please review. Now that I'm on summer break (mostly) I'll try my best to make updates more frequent if people are still interested.**


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